History of Eclectic, Alabama

This week I decided to go somewhere a little more familiar for me. A little town about forty-five minutes outside of Montgomery, Alabama called Eclectic, Alabama. It definitely is not the biggest of towns, but it does have a lot of charm!

The area of now Eclectic once was located within the Creek territory. And through the Treaty of Cusseta in 1832, the first owner of the land was tribe member Ho-Pic-You-Che. In 1835 he sold the land to the Alex J. Robinson Land Company. The company then sold it to a man by the name of William Gray. William Gray then divided the land into 213 plots and sold them for settlement. The area then got the name Pleasant Grove.

In 1877, practitioner and resident Dr. M.L. Fielder bought 122 acres at the western border of Pleasant Grove and offered one acre lots of land each for free to settlers around. To acquire the land and seal the deal, the settlers would have to either build a house or a business. To ensure the plots were actually going to be put to use in the area. In 1879, Dr. Fielder brought the first post office to the area in his home. As more people started moving in the whole are began to be referred to as Eclectic. So the name Pleasant Grove eventually disappeared.

The little town of Eclectic was founded in 1907 by the practitioner Dr. M. L. Fielder. Dr. Fielder practiced a form of medicine known as eclectic medicine, which was an American medicine that used botanical remedies and other substances physical therapy practices. And this is how the town became named Eclectic. For the name, the town has ended up on the list of ‘Unusual Place Names’ multiple times.

In 1911, the county that Eclectic is in, Elmore County, got its first high school. And it was built in Eclectic, Alabama. It was given the name Elmore County High School. I have a good bit of family on my mom’s side from Eclectic so many of them graduated from this high school or attended it at some point. When my grandma attended, they had the elementary through high school grades on one campus. Now there are three separate buildings for elementary school, middle school, and high school.

In 1913, the Birmingham and Southeastern Railroad came through the town. This helped the area have a boom in land sales and people moving in. When the Great Depression came through, the railroad system in Eclectic fell through. It was closed in 1936 due to this. The town has remained a smaller size ever since. In the last census that was taken in 2010, the town had around 1,000 people living in it.

This is a town that I have pretty much been living in for most of my life. It is a second hometown. It is definitely not the biggest of places but there are still things to do. They have quite a few restaurants that have delicious food, boutiques, a coffee shop (my personal favorite spot in Eclectic), a public library (I have volunteered there quite a few times), a playground park called Panther Palace. Eclectic is also not very far from Lake Martin so that is a definite plus. 

Eclectic has a slogan that says they are the "Star of Elmore County." So if you come to Eclectic you will notice star statues in the area. There is one at Panther Palace, and you find a couple welcoming you to Eclectic and telling you to be careful when you leave town. 

Every October, Eclectic also hosts a festival called the Cotton Festival. It usually has a Cotton Pageant, a 5k run, antique car show, games for both kids and adults, plenty of food, live music, and more attractions as well. I have been a couple of times and have enjoyed it when I went!

The town is a pretty small place, but it is definitely worth stopping by and checking out!

An interactive photo: https://view.genial.ly/5e9d3352c485a60df8a00cfa/interactive-image-interactive-image

Video of Eclectic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7cF_GEY-DA

History of Columbus, Georgia

For this week’s blog I am taking you out of state to the city of Columbus, Georgia. This is a city that I interned in this past summer at WRBL News 3! It was a very neat experience and I loved being a part of this town for two months. I hope that you can find the history of the town neat enough to want to visit too!

                                                    

The area of Columbus, Georgia was originally owned and inhabited by the Creek Indians. In 1828, the area was founded and officially named Columbus in an act passed by Georgia Legislature. The city was actually named after Christopher Columbus! A man named Dr. Edwin L. DeGraffenreid drew a plan for the town and put it on a bluff overlooking the river. In 1836, the last remaining Creek Indians were sadly forcibly removed by the federal government for the European-Americans coming into the town.

The city took advantage of the river running beside it and used it to ship cotton from the plantations down to New Orleans. The crop would then be shipped to Liverpool, England. In the 1850s, the railroad system came to the city, helping it grow even more. Columbus also brought textile mills to the area and built them along the river. Columbus became an important industrial center of the South by 1860 and earned the nickname “Lowell of the South.” Lowell was an important textile mill town located in Massachusetts.

When the Civil War started, Columbus became one of the most important places of industry to the Confederacy. They were second to Richmond, Virginia. Columbus manufactured materials for Confederate uniforms, cannons, machinery, firearms, swords, bayonets, and ammunition. Columbus also had a shipyard for the Confederate Navy. On April 16, 1865, the Battle of Columbus took place and many of the industrial buildings were burned down. This battle is considered the “Last Land Battle in the War from 1861 to 1865.”

In the spring of 1866, a group in Columbus called the Ladies Memorial Association signed to set aside one day to honor those who died for the Confederacy. Ladies from all of the southern states were invited to come to Columbus to celebrate. A lady named Elizabeth Rutherford Ellis chose April 26, 1866 as the first official day to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day. Quite a few cities in the South have tried to say they started the holiday, but it has be proven to have been Columbus.

The Springer Opera House was built in 1871 and was named the official State Theater of Georgia by former President Jimmy Carter on its 100^th anniversary. In its hay day Oscar Wilde came to the theater.

In October of 1909, Columbus mayor Lucius Chappell brought the then named Camp Benning to the area to train soldiers. In 1922, it was renamed to Fort Benning after the Confederate General Henry L. Benning who was a native of Columbus.

As the city continued to grow Columbus College was founded in 1958. It started out as a two- year university but grew into what is today Columbus State University. It was renamed in 1996. In the 1960s to 1980s, the Columbus area started seeing a decline. The class groups started to show a divide and prostitution became prevalent. But many improvements began to be made. Neighborhoods were fixed up, historic buildings and areas were redone, large residential neighborhoods were built for soldiers after the Vietnam War, and new projects were done. These projects included a softball complex which hosted 1996 Olympic softball competition, the Chattahoochee Riverwalk, the National Civil War Naval Museum, the Coco-Cola Space Science Center, expansion of Columbus Museum, fixed roads, and a new bridge connecting Columbus to Phenix City, Alabama.

Columbus is a beautiful city with quite a few cites to see. Some more places I recommend visiting are the National Infantry Museum, whitewater rafting (Columbus has the longest urban venue in the world), Broadway Street, the Riverwalk, Columbus Art Museum, and there is so much more to find! It is an awesome city that I hope you will have the chance to visit one day too!

I had the chance to interview two people who live in the area. One Smith Station, Alabama resident Yolanda Allen and the other is Columbus resident Kate Lopez. Here are the questions and answers:

How long have you lived here/in the area?

Yolanda Allen: “I moved here 13 years ago. My mom and dad wanted to move closer to home since dad retired from the army.”

Kate Lopez: “Going on seven months.”

What is your favorite part of Columbus?

YA: “Downtown Columbus is my favorite part of the area. There’s a lot of food spots and entertainment. Plus, the Riverwalk is also there. Which you can walk, fish, and go white water rafting at.”

KL: “Location wise, downtown for sure.”

What is your favorite part of the history of Columbus?

YA: “The Springer Opera House is one of my favorite things about the history of Columbus. It has been there since the 1800s and it still has live performances inside the building.’

KL: “It used to be a big port city back in the 1800s. It was used to transport supplies during the Civil War. It’s my favorite because they still have the old buildings from back then downtown and it’s nice to walk there and see them.”

Would you recommend Columbus as a place to live for people? Why/why not?

YA: “I would recommend Columbus as a place to live. I honestly don’t think it’s a bad place to live. There is a lot of stuff you can do in Columbus.”

KL: “Yes, it’s pretty. There are a lot of places to go out to and do with family or even just yourself. There are a lot of parks here too if that’s your thing. Many job opportunities and schools. It’s a busy city most of the time but it’s also a quiet and chill city too.”

Interactive Photo: https://view.genial.ly/5e8b72c974dd8c0e246962d3/interactive-image-interactive-image